Rockiness of Trump’s Transition Lowers Americans’ Confidence in Him to Govern

With the inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump just days away, new polling shows that his statements and actions during his transition period — the time frame between Election Day and his inauguration — have lessened Americans’ confidence in his ability to serve in the White House.

A CNN/SSRS poll published this week shows that a slim majority of Americans (55 percent) approve of Trump’s handling of the transition, while 45 percent disapprove. That number is among the lowest approval ratings for a president-elect’s transition since at least 1993.

Only one other presidential transition — Trump’s first entry into the White House in 2017 — polled at a lower rating. The next lowest approval rating for a presidential transition was in 2001, when former President George W. Bush had 61 percent approval and only 25 percent disapproval. Former President Barack Obama has the highest rating for a presidential transition, with 84 percent giving him favorable marks in 2009 and only 14 percent saying they disapproved.

Trump’s numbers largely indicate that Americans are split on his incoming presidency. Indeed, according to the CNN/SSRS poll, only 37 percent of Americans say they feel more confident in Trump’s ability to serve as president at the end of the transition period, while 53 percent say they have less confidence in him.

There are numerous reasons why Americans may be more concerned about a Trump presidency now than they were two months ago — including the people the president-elect has nominated to serve in his cabinet.

Trump’s nomination of former Congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general, for example, was a clear sign that the president-elect wanted to fill the position with someone deeply loyal to him, possibly to use the Department of Justice (DOJ) as a means to go after his own political opponents. Gaetz’s nomination was rescinded after it became clear that he didn’t have the votes in the Senate — even among his own party — to be confirmed, likely due to multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, including a House Ethics Report showing evidence that he may have had sexual relations with a minor.

Gaetz isn’t the only controversial Trump nominee. The nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also raised eyebrows, as Kennedy frequently peddles debunked conspiracy theories related to health care, including unfounded claims about the efficacy and safety of vaccines. Despite polling showing that only a quarter of Americans trust Kennedy’s medical “advice,” he remains a nominee for that HHS position, where he would oversee federal health agencies including Medicaid/Medicare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and more.

Several of Trump’s other cabinet picks — including Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department, Kristi Noem to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Pam Bondi to be attorney general, and others — have also highlighted how Trump is prioritizing loyalty to him over political qualifications.

Meanwhile, Trump has spent his transition period introducing the beginnings of new trade wars with Mexico, Canada and China, the top three trading partners with the U.S., threatening those countries with steep tariffs unless they agree to initiate policies on immigration and drugs to his liking. Although Trump assured voters on the campaign trail that the tariffs wouldn’t impact prices in the U.S., experts have said that the costs of the tariffs would be passed on to American consumers.

Trump has also reneged on his promise to voters that he would lower the costs of groceries and other consumer goods, which rose in part due to higher demand and supply chain issues following the pandemic, but also due to “greedflation” — corporations raising prices more than necessary to increase their profits.

“I’d like to bring them down. It’s hard to bring things down once they’re up. You know, it’s very hard,” Trump lamented in an interview with Time Magazine.

Trump has displayed fascist sentiments during his transition period, demanding that news agencies and even comedy programs be punished for accurately reporting on him or making jokes at his expense. He has repeatedly called for the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. — which would deprive millions of people of their due process and other civil rights — and indicated that he would use the military to enforce that plan, as well as to quash demonstrations by those speaking out against his policies. In recent weeks, Trump has also expressed a desire for the U.S. to take control of Greenland and parts of Panama, moves that polling has shown would be unpopular among Americans.

Although Americans are largely opposed to many of the policies included in Trump’s far right agenda, he and his Republican administration will be in control of all three branches of government starting Monday.